If a school has a competitive selective sports program, a person with a disability does not automatically get a spot on the team. Seth Galanter

In this Aug. 6, 2012 file photo, 19-year-old Eric Dompierre, right, who has Down syndrome and is the kicker for the Ishpeming High School varsity football team, arrives on the field for the first day of practice at the Ishpeming Playgrounds in Ishpeming, Mich. Breaking new ground, the U.S. Education Department told schools Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, they must include students with disabilities in sports programs or provide equal alternative options. ( Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press, AP Photo)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Seth Galanter,
the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, laid
out five principles of the U.S. Education Department, cited five principles from the directive in last Friday's
teleconference.

A school system cannot rely on generalizations, assumptions,
prejudices, or stereotypes about disability generally, or specific disabilities
in particular.

"Every kid has to be judged as an individual," he said in a
teleconference. "One student with a particular disability might not be able to
play a certain kind of sport or may not do well under pressure but another
student with the same disability may be able to play that sport and thrive
under pressure. Schools must look to the abilities of kids, not their
disabilities."

Schools must provide reasonable modifications so
that kids with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in the
existing programs of the school.

"To do this, the school must first look at the individual
kid to determine if a modification is necessary," Galanter said, noting that a fundamental alteration is
not required. "You don't have to change the game in a way that will make it a
different game. We give the example of adding an extra base in baseball. You're
still running around bases but it's not baseball."

School systems must provide qualified students with
a disability with needed aids and services if the failure to do that would deny
that student an equal opportunity for participation. Galanter cited insulin administration and glucose testing for a young child
with diabetes as an example.

"They get
the service during the school day from the school," he said. "They are in many
circumstance entitled to those same services in the after-school program, be it
competitive or not."

The
law requires inclusion wherever possible. Unnecessary separation is in itself
discriminatory and harmful.

"When the interests of students with disabilities can't be
met by the school's existing programs, we're recommending school districts
create additional opportunities for those students, even if they are separate
and different from those offered to others," Galanter said.

"An increasing number of school
districts are creating disability-specific teams for sport, such as wheelchair
tennis or wheelchair basketball," the acting assistant secretary for civil rights said. "Others are offering allied or unified sports
teams in which student with disabilities participate with those without
disabilities under modified rules."

This guidance is about expanding opportunities and
inclusion. It's not about changing the nature of an athletic activity.

"If a school has a competitive selective sports program, a
person with a disability does not automatically get a spot on the team or get
to play just because they have some minimal set of skills," Galanter said.

Click here to read the entire directive from the Office of Civil Rights.